And the Results Are
by HiddenEye
Summary: "What are the consequences of making out with your friends without making it look as if you have a massive crush on them?"
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to their respectful owners.

A/N: So it's like this, I was actually writing another chapter for Children Please but it somehow got deleted that I was so upset that I started on this. It was almost finished too ajbdjavhsbshsbhs oh well I'll start on it again later sIGH. Also, your thoughts on whether or not I should do a second part to this is highly appreciated ^.^

* * *

"What are the consequences of making out with your friends without making it look as if you have a massive crush on them?"

To be honest, she didn't know where that question came from and why it came out in the first place, because she almost choked on her tea at that time just when she was about to take a sip, the hot beverage scalding her tongue and almost stained her sweater that it gave her hell the moment it made contact.

Marinette wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, meeting Adrien's stare across the coffee table of her home filled with books and half-filled mugs as he waited for her reply patiently, the corner of his lips turned up slightly in amusement.

Somehow, that didn't help matters when she felt a flush blooming on her face.

She cleared her throat, trying to quench her embarassment as she set aside the mug. "'Friends' as in plural or just," She paused, because she couldn't believe she was having this type of conversation with _him_ of all people that she was sure she was going insane. " _A_ friend?"

Because really, he asked the question after Alya and Nino left to retrieve some things she 'accidentally' left at home -Alya gave a discreet wink at Marinette then, and the blue eyed girl wanted to scream at her for her sly trick to get away from their study group, all bundled up with coats and scarves as they braced themselves for the winter season- leaving the two of them alone in the silence for a while. It wasn't awkward, per say, but it _was_ getting there, until he broke it with that question that caused half her death.

He shrugged, twirling the pen between his fingers. "Does it matter though?"

She blinked. "I guess not," She replied slowly, unsure how to continue this. "But, um, before I answer that _interesting_ question of yours," He smirked at this, and she almost squawked when she felt her cheeks burn more. "I, er, just-" She waved her hand hopelessly, as if that would help get the words out. "What brought this on?"

 _Absolutely brilliant, Mari, he'll talk to you for sure now._

She groaned internally, wincing when his smirk changed into a grin, and that made more butterflies rupture in her stomach. "Just thinking I guess," He leaned back on the sofa behind him. "Say someone has a crush on his best friend and or friend, but they're too afraid to say anything so they just," He abruptly stop his sentence. "You know."

"Kiss them?"

"Yeah."

Tapping her pen on her book lightly, she frowned. "Well, there are two ways to this from what I see. You're either going to get slapped, or they're gonna kiss you back and then you'll be lucky."

He chuckled. "The later sounds much more appealing to me."

She pointed her pen to him with a smirk of her own. "If you're lucky."

He seemed to catch off guard at her sudden change of attitude, but he quickly composed himself with a raised eyebrow. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm as lucky as a black cat walking under a ladder."

He looked throughly amused at what he said that he reminded her of her black cat who pranced on the roofs of Paris. "Black cats aren't all unlucky, you know." She blurted out before she could stop herself.

That seemed to catch his attention when he leaned forward on the table. "Really?"

The tips of her ears burned when she reverted her gaze away from him, overwhelmed by the sharp look in his eye. "Well, um, say Chat Noir for one," _God_ , if that alley cat was there to listen, she'll never hear the end of it. "Even if his powers are based on bad luck, he has Ladybug to give him good luck. So technically, he's not _entirely_ bad luck."

He hummed in some sort of acceptance. "But then, without Ladybug, he's just a walking destruction."

She snapped her eyes to him, some sort of protectiveness wrapping around her heart. "Well, he used that power to help people right? And from what I know he was already a hero before Ladybug made an appearance. Stopping robery, dealing with drugs addicts. Sure, there weren't any akumas then, but he already chose the right path of using that power for the greater good, so I guess that counts as something as not being a _walking destruction_."

She realised with a start that she was so in depth with the argument and shrunk back, avoiding him as she looked down to her notebook. "That's what I think anyway." She managed out meekly as she fingered the edge of the page, frantically trying to find ways to change the subject because _wow_ , was she so protective of her kitty cat that she couldn't bare to let anyone to talk so lightly about him like that, even if it was from her crush.

When she glanced up, she saw that he was looking at her with some sort of respect and admiration alight in his eyes, and also _satisfaction_ , where a soft smile stretched upon his lips that she felt herself burning that she looked down again.

She didn't know why he looked so satisfied though, and dare she say it, _smug_.

"I never knew you were so interested in him," He commented smoothly as a chuckle broke out of his lips.

She shrugged, metting his gaze again as she gave him a tight smile to smother the fluttering feeling in her stomach. "Let's just say I'm tired of hearing people say he's just a sidekick, since I've heard first hand from Ladybug that he was more her partner than anything else."

His eyes widen slightly when she mentioned her alter ego, but she couldn't help but notice there was something _off_ about his surprise, as if he was faking it. "You met Ladybug?"

Bactracking a bit, she rubbed the back of her head to act sheepish. "Well, yeah, I was with Alya when she wanted to interview Ladybug, so I learned a few things."

Theoretically speaking, she wasn't lying. She _was_ there when Alya wanted to ask some questions regarding the duo, and she had answered as righteous as she was currently when people asked whether Chat Noir was her sidekick or was he just someone who tags around. To say the least, she was getting irratated that people would think of him that way and answered a long worded essay that made it through the news the next morning.

The alley cat kept bringing it up for the whole week.

"Other than that," She quickly said as she straightened up her spine, giving him a shy smile. "What do you think of him?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Chat Noir?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged. "He's alright, I guess," For some reason, she felt as if he was radiating this massive amount of pure _amusement_ and she just didn't know _why_. "I heard that you met him before too, that time with Evillustrator."

She flushed a bit, because even if that incident was around a couple of years ago and just around a few weeks ago, Chat Noir had made constant visits to her civillian self on her balcony every other week.

They talk sure, (with a bit of flirting here and there and also that one _totally accidental_ kiss when he lost his grip on her trap door that made him crashed down while smacking her full on the lips, while on her _bed_.) but she was feeling her heart being pulled into _his_ direction as well as she didn't actually like one bit, because liking one boy was already hard.

But liking _two_ , however, was a disaster.

He apologised with a bunch of flowers left on the balcony and she forgiven him on his next visit to her room, which led her to kiss him on the cheek and before she knew it, they made out.

Yeah, that wasn't what she expected to happen and she had thought of stopping their, er, _activity_ for the past few days since they started until now, but that was quickly forgotten the moment he step foot on her property.

"Ah, y-yeah," She stuttered, and his eyes flashed with some sort of secrecy she didn't manage to catch before it disappeared. "We've, um, talked before."

He seem to accept her response when he hummed. "I've met the consequences of kissing a friend."

Her heart sank at his words, and she looked down to her notebook nonchalantly to not let him see the disappointment in her eyes. "Oh," She said quietly. "And how did it work out for you?"

"Well, she kissed me first, but it was on my cheek, and it counts, I think."

She still didn't look up as she willed herself to force out a laugh. "Really?"

"Totally."

Licking her dry lips, she was curious who it was, despite her heart being butchered at the moment. "Who's the lucky girl?"

He chuckled, and she jumped when she felt his warm breath fanned on her cheek. Her eyes widen when she didn't realised that he moved from his place to sit beside her, so close that their knees touched.

"You, of course."

She only had a split second to gape at him before he leaned forward to brush his lips against hers, and she was filled with a burst of _familiarity_ that she immediately leaned forward to press their lips together.

As if on instinct and memory, she cupped his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her, bringing them flush together that a sigh broke out of his lips, making her shudder when he let a hand trail down her back.

She vaguely realised that his lips felt so familiar that she was sure she hadn't kiss him before in her life, and he actually said that she was the one who he kissed, that made things more confusing than before.

He tasted like the coffee he drank, the faint smell of winter still clung onto his clothes, her hands running through his hair on their own record when he leaned forward that her back was pressed against the sofa, making him grunt slightly as their legs got tangled along the way.

Her brain was literally screaming at her to snap out of it because really, this whole situation was eating her alive because for the fact that a) _Adrien Agreste_ was kissing her in her living room while there's a high risk of anyone walking through that door any moment now that she was sure she will die from internal combustion. And also, b) _why_ , in the name of her polka dot spandex, was this so freaking familiar because she was sure she would remember making out with him anywhere.

He started to pepper her face with small kisses, and she clenched the back of his sweater because _good god_ she needed something to hold onto right now as her sanity depended on it.

His dragged his bottom lip across her jaw, and her breath hitched as her grip on him tightened momentarily. "Take your time to remember, _My Lady_ ," He breathed into her ear. "I don't mind."

She froze, feeling the way her heart was banging againt her ribcage when his words finally made sense to her.

" _Chat_?"

He leaned back to have a look at her from under his lashes, his chest heaving slightly. "Maybe you're right," He said quietly. "Maybe I'm not entirely bad luck."

With a wink and a grin, he left a peck on her lips before he untangled themselves that she couldn't do anything but let him as she just sat there -absolutely mind blown because _what the heck was that_ \- where he took his place on the other side of the coffee table the moment she heard the door opened, where Alya and Nino came in.

"We're back!" Nino announced as Marinette quickly scrambled to make herself busy, pulling onto his scarf as he dumped himself on the couch beside Adrien. "I thought I was going to turn into a popsicle."

Alya clicked her tongue as she shook her head. "So dramatic, Spielberg, it was only a little snow."

"Still balls cold though," Nino muttered under his breath, where a cushion landed on his face the moment after that. He laughed as he peeled it away. "So kids, I hope you guys behaved?"

He raised an eyebrow defiantly at Adrien, to which the model raised an eyebrow of his own. "You're telling me, you two were gone for a long time."

"Hey," Alya protested. "It was cold, we had to walk slowly as we huddled for warmth, not like you and Marinette all cuddled up in here."

Said girl felt her whole face burn from where she was hunching over her book, the internal screech echoed in her head as she didn't dare open her mouth for fearing that it would come out.

Adrien clicked his tongue. "Excuses."

And then, another cushion flew across the room, but at least he managed to catch it with a hand and chuckle.

Marinette felt Alya taking her place beside her. "So, did you do anything?" Alya murmured when the boys were talking among themselves. "Or was there awkward silence for the whole time we were gone because honestly, Mari, I _will_ do it myself and tell him how you feel-"

"No!" Marinette hissed out, her eyes widen when Adrien glanced at her way curiously. "Just, _no_ , I have it under control, trust me." The last thing she needed was Alya telling Adrien - _Chat Noir_ for the love of god- what she felt about him.

The fact that they're the same person didn't actually soothe her jitters.

Alya snorted. "Really? Then why do you look as if he just swooped towards you to descend some holy kiss of his?"

Marinette almost choked the second time that day. "It's nothing like that."

Because it was _exactly_ like that.

She risked a glance to his way, to which he caught her and send another wink.

Alya noticed that and raised both her eyebrows at the girl beside her. "And what," She began in a low voice. "My dear, was _that_?"

"What's what?" Marinette blinked innocently at her, all while in her head she was chanting _buy it buy it buy it._

"He just _winked_ at you, and I saw it."

Marinette shrugged. "You're delusional."

 _"I know what I saw_."

She was going to kill that stupid cat if he ever visited her again that night, model or no.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Neko Atsume anyone? (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) These two dorks make me cry.

* * *

He came.

And she was tempted to throw the chocolate in her hand at him from her spot on the chair, where he was crouching on the railing of her balcony with the most obnoxious grin she had ever seen in her life, his tail swaying behind him as the blue-black sky stretched above them, the Eiffel Tower alight from afar.

 _No, no, it's my last stash of Belgium chocolate, not worth throwing at him_.

But then, he started to stretch his limbs across the railing, somehow laying on it Cleopatra style with his cheek resting on his hand, a smirk stretching on his lips.

"Draw me like one of your French girls, _mon amour_."

The heat was immediate as it spread across her face -and she was very glad that it was dark and he couldn't see the redness that could probably rival the suit of her alter ego- when she knew that behind that black mask was none other than one of the most famous teenage models internationally, spawn of Gabriel Agreste, physics whizz at their school, your one and only, _Adrien freaking Agreste._

She threw one of the sea shell shaped chocolates at him, to which he caught with a hand as a low chuckle tumbled past his lips.

"Go away," She muttered, looking back to her phone where she was keen on ignoring him and occupied herself with Neko Atsume, the game she was playing before he came along, tugging on the sleeve of her sweater and the blanket around her for warmth.

She vowed to never wear shorts outside ever again.

Then again, she didn't know _why_ she wore shorts in the first place when it was freezing cold outside.

It was agreed, to herself and to Tikki -even if the kwami didn't actually told her directly- that she was so out of it ever since the dawn of her and Chat Noir's secret rendezvous in her home.

No, hers and _Adrien's_.

Good god, she needed to drown herself in chocolate after this.

Seeing that one side of his mask was slightly higher than the other, he gave her a look of mock disbelief as he popped the chocolate into his mouth. "But Princess, you said that I could come back again."

She looked up from Tubbs the gluttonous white cat to shoot the annoying black cat in front of her a glare, where her heart jumped when she realised that he got down from his pose and merely took a few steps forward before he was already in her space. "As _Adrien_ ," She pressed as he sat crossed leg on the floor in front of her. "In the _bakery_ , not Chat Noir on the balcony."

She let out a small _eep_ when he wrapped his arms around her legs, where he only hummed to what she said as he perched his chin on her blanket covered knees, pushing down her phone to have a look at it. "You're ignoring me for a _cat_ game?" He clicked his tongue. "How insulting."

She couldn't believe that this delirious of a superhero, her partner in crime, (also her kissing buddy but she refused to admit that) was also her classmate in front of her, her crush, and the face of the poster she ripped out and was shoved in one of her drawers the moment the cat started to come to visit her.

She flicked his forehead, to which he let out a protest that he let go of her phone, but unfortunately not her legs, ignoring the pout he was giving her as she ate a piece of chocolate. "At least they don't annoy me."

He snorted softly, pressing his nose to her knees, pushing the blanket out of the way that she resisted the shiver from running through her body when his lips brushed lightly against her skin. "Tubbs _always_ eats the expensive food, it's Plagg all over again."

It took a second for her to realise from the distraction he caused her to know what he meant before she got it, an absentminded hand ran through his hair and his cat ears that he was quick to slump on her. "Your kwami?"

A low purr vibrated from his chest when she scratched the back of those ears with her fingers, and she was glad for the plants that hung on her balcony that they blocked most of the sight from anyone that could somehow glanced at her place, where they couldn't see one of Paris's famous superheroes being stroked by the baker's daughter.

He only hummed for an answer, before she realised what he said and snickered. "You play Neko Atsume too?"

He opened his eyes lazily like the true cat he was as he gave her a grin. "In my defense, some photo shoots had longer breaks than normal, so I play that."

She could almost easily forget that Chat Noir was Adrien, that the boy at her feet now was the superhero with terrible puns and not the boy who can sometimes be a little too quiet for his own good. But he had proved himself to her that he was, in fact, the same person earlier that day on the floor of her living room with the sofa pressed behind her as he kissed her the same way she was kissed for the past few nights in her room.

She continued to run her hand through his hair, the kiss still buzzing in her mind as she looked down to him, where he rested his cheek on her knees. Slowly, from the crown of his head, she dragged her nails lightly across his scalp, where she felt him tensed for a moment as she cupped his cheek, ending her adventure by running a finger down the frame of his face and then to his chin. She repeated the process for a couple more times, before she leaned down to press a kiss on his hair at the same moment he looked up.

Her lips landed on the tip of his nose, and she almost reeled back in shock if not for his hand on her shoulder, stopping her from moving as she tried to even out her breathing when he nudged his nose with hers.

"Marinette," He murmured, skimming his lips over hers that she let out a small strangled noise, her hands now clutching onto his shoulders for support from her awkward position as the blanket pooled at her waist.

Chuckling, he pressed a kiss at the corner of her mouth, letting them linger there for a moment too long as his tugged onto her sweater, pleading for her to lower herself down.

With that, she turned her head slightly to the side to catch his lips eagerly with hers, wrapping her arms around his neck that he hooked an arm of his own around her waist as he pulled her down to him, where a yelp escaped her lips as she fell.

Their lips managed to stay intact as she straddled his hips, both of her hands planted on each side of his head as he cupped her nape with a hand, his fingers threading through her hair that some strands fell from their ties.

Not again.

Oh god, _not again_.

She was ignoring her own word earlier that day after her friends left, where she would never, _ever_ again fall into Chat's blatant ways of trying to get her kiss him again by doing little things that drove her absolutely crazy. Subtle ways that didn't exactly take her much to get her hands in his hair and breathe into his scent.

Especially now that she knew who was behind that mask.

(Still, she downright refuse to admit to herself, much less Chat -Adrien, whoever he was at the moment because honestly, she was going to kill them both for teasing her the way they were doing- that anything to do with him was making her into a putty mess as fast as butter left under the scorching sun.)

Before she knew it, the cold tile bit into her skin when he flipped them around, causing her to gasp that he was quick to silence her when he crashed his lips onto hers, his claw like hands running down her sides as her arms took their previous position around his neck, causing the space between them to disappear entirely as she arched into him, where a groan escaped his lips when he used his arms as support, careful to not burden her with his weight.

At the back of her mind, she could almost imagine Tikki shaking her head at them from inside, but that quickly disappeared when the vigilante above her had moved his lips to the underside of her jaw, leaving open mouth kisses at his wake.

At least this time they managed to hold onto a conversation for a few sentences.

* * *

The next day, sleep deprived and a fresh new hickey hidden under the white turtleneck she wore that for once she was thankful for the cold weather, Marinette tapped her pen on her book as one hand tugged onto the turtleneck -now, she knew why she hadn't been wearing that particular clothing for a while, there was something making her neck itchy for some reason _goddammit_ \- , her mouth thinned into a straight line as she mulled over her thoughts in class.

After all that excitement last night, in the end he had to go home -not before he stole another kiss that was sweeter than the last, where his mouth tasted like the chocolate she gave him- and true enough, when she went inside her room, Tikki was waiting for her on the bed, an eye roll was given to the girl before the kwami patted the bed under her.

"Took you long enough," Tikki giggled as she got herself comfortable on the pillow, where Marinette went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "I would have called you in if I had to, Plagg was probably suffering."

Marinette emerged from the bathroom after a while and climb her way up the stairs, plopping onto the mattress with a wide smile on her face.

She was a love sick fool.

And for once, she didn't mind about it at all.

"Did you ask him how he knew though?

No, she hadn't.

Too distracted, she wasn't able to ask him how he knew.

She will, sometime, if she was able to talk to him later.

For now, she had to deal with this.

"So."

Marinette stopped tapping her pen, side eyeing her best friend who was writing the last of her notes on her book, a small smile twitched on her lips. "Mind telling me about yesterday?"

Marinette feigned ignorant. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alya rolled her eyes. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. Or," She finally faced her, the smile stretched wider. "You want me to elaborate?"

Marinette pursed her lips again, before looking away with a mutter, "You're seeing things."

"Hah!" Alya poked a finger on her shoulder. "So you _do_ know what I'm talking about. Well, care to explain, _ma chérie_?"

Groaning, Marinette waved away the finger when Alya poked her multiple times. "It's nothing," She told her in a low voice. "He probably had something in his eye."

Alya scoffed. "I knew you were a terrible liar but I never knew you were _this_ bad. Come on, Mari, you were red from head to toe, what exactly happened?"

Marinette scratched at the irritating spot on her skin, trying to find the thing that was poking her neck because it was starting to drive her crazy. "Nothing that you should be worried about, we were just talking."

Alya propped her cheek on her fist, giving her a deadpanned look. "Try me."

Sighing from her friend's persistence and the damn thing that's causing her itchiness, she pulled down the turtleneck lower to have a look at it. "Hey Alya, can you have a look at this? I have something poking me and I can't stop scratching."

Shaking her head, Alya obligated by scooting nearer. "Just because you changed the subject doesn't mean you're off the hook," She pointed out as she tugged on it, turning it inside out as she leaned forward to have a look. "There's that plastic thingy that usually holds the price tag buried in there. Wait, I got it," When she leaned back, true enough, there was a strand of plastic between her fingers as she tutted, her other hand still holding onto the turtleneck. "This so unlike you, Mari."

Marinette shrugged. "Yeah well, I was probably distracted when I wanted to wear it the first time that I didn't realise it was still in there."

"Wait," Alya leaned towards her neck, eyes squinted slightly as she pulled down the turtleneck more. "What is _that_?"

Marinette frowned and was about to ask what she meant when she snapped her jaw closed, promptly realising what Alya was talking about as she felt the blush spreading across her face.

Hickey.

How can she forget about the hickey.

Her luck just abandoned her bone dry to be interrogated by Alya the eagle.

She flushed even redder when Nino and Adrien turned to look at them curiously, where Adrien's eyes widen slightly when Alya exposed her red bitten neck towards them.

"Uh, Alya? What are you doing?" Nino asked quizzically.

Alya waved away his concerns. "None of your business, Speilberg, Mari's hiding something and I'm trying to find out."

An eyebrow jumped up. "Under her shirt?"

Laughing nervously, Marinette tried to pry off Alya's fingers, but with no avail. "The price tag that was poking me left a red mark after I scratched myself, now will you please let go, you're going to ruin it."

"The price tag that was poking somewhere below your ear, this thing is like, near your collarbone or something," Alya huffed, letting go as she crossed her arms. "You got laid and you didn't tell me?"

Oh my god.

Where was the spinning vortex of doom when she needed it.

Another eyebrow joined the other on Nino's forehead. "Marinette got laid?"

"I-It's nothing like that," Marinette stuttered as she hastily smoothed down the wrinkles of her neckline. "And I didn't get _laid_."

To her horror, Adrien gave a ghost of a smirk. "But you got a hickey."

Her eyelid threatened to twitch when she felt the heat spread to the tip of her ears. "Doesn't mean I got laid." _And it's all your fault, you dumb cat_.

Alya clicked her tongue. "So secretive, Mari, too much secrets can kill you someday."

She could see how Adrien was holding back his smile when the corner of his lips twitched, and he quickly covered it by lightly coughing into his hand. She sent him a discreet glower that he caught when he gave her a sweet smile.

"If the four of you have done talking, I would appreciate if you pay attention in my class."

They gave muttered apologies before the boys faced forward, where Mme. Mendeleieve shot them an exasperated look before she turned back to the blackboard, continuing her lesson.

Quickly taking a piece of paper, she jotted down on it using her pen before passing it to him, where he glanced at it curiously before taking it from her while letting his eyes focus on the board from being seen.

She heard the low snicker as she made herself busy with her work, trying to hide the smirk that threatened to spread across her lips.

 _I'm going to kick your ass for ruining my life you dumb cat._

* * *

That night, as Chat Noir waited for his lady to arrive for their weekly patrol, his glee was visible through the grin that stretched itself across his face.

Oh yes, he didn't expect his plan to go as flawlessly as it already was when he first stumbled upon a particular notion that caught his interest immensely. It occurred many times to him that his rotten luck would rear its head on this and would ruin everything he worked hard for. But here he was, content and happy that he found out the identity of his lady out of pure detective skills he didn't know he had -"If _stalking_ counted as one of the detective traits," Plagg snorted that one time when he brought up this thought- all while being patient and careful with what he was doing.

Her expression was absolutely _priceless_.

It was this one time when they were resting after a late patrol, talking about what they could without actually revealing anything that could be counted as part of their personal life.

Until, Ladybug let the name of her school slipped past her lips when she was in a heated rant about this girl being so mean to everyone and abused her power by getting whatever she wanted by increasing the pitch of her voice.

Imagine his enthusiasm when he found out that the school she was speaking of was _his_ school, and that his lady was in his year.

And he realised then she was talking about Chloe.

Not surprising but Chloe was mean when she felt like it (even if it was most of the time he ever had been in her presence.)

He should know, he known her as long as he could remember.

But he didn't say anything of course, as much as he wanted to jump and down and dance around that the slip of his lady's tongue was all the clue he needed as he hounded for more pointers that could lead him to who she was at school. Plagg tried to throw him off the grid when he was told that the Miraculous shielded their identity from anyone, where their appearance would be unrecognisable despite the nagging feeling that could occur, a scratch that shouldn't be reached. But out of pure determination and a bit of fear, he searched high and low, made a name list of all the girls who were in his year, and tried to kept an eye out for anyone who had a close resemblance to Ladybug.

Yes, it was borderline creepy, and maybe he shouldn't even think about the clue so much since it was an accident and she didn't mean it.

But, he couldn't help it.

He almost gave up though.

After weeks of searching, he almost gave up, wanting to drop everything since he had other important things to be worried about such as school, duties as Chat Noir, his modelling carrier, his father's cold disapproval if he ever found out that his son had been slacking in school that the unspoken threat of taking him out of the school and making him learn in his museum-like house was hanging in the air like the plague.

And so, with a heavy heart and a disgusted shake of a head from Plagg, he let it go.

Until one faithful day where God decided to shine all that was holy above his head, his search wasn't for vain.

Because everything pointed to Marinette.

It was a normal day at gym when he was still silently mourning over his loss, they had to go through an exercise course that would be mildly difficult if not for the fact that he had gain much stamina during the last few years of running above rooftops and taking down akumatised victims one by one.

Apparently, Marinette was chosen to go through it first, since the coach had a special place for her in his heart ever since he found out that the girl could go through the last exercise course for the span of ten minutes when it would take at least half an hour for other students.

He was a minute later than her but hey, he didn't mind that the spotlight didn't shine on him for once.

She was excellent as she zipped through it, as if it was merely a stroll in the park, bounding from one pillar to another, somersaulting her way above the obstacle that were lay out, when she reached a trapeze's tight rope.

She had done it in such a way that he was sure that Ladybug had mastered, because she told him herself that she was the one who had invented those moves.

It was enticing when he first saw it, suicidal even, by the number of times he almost had a heartattack by the way she dangerously used her body for moves that he hadn't thought was possible for a normal human being, that was saying something because he had an agility of a cat, _he_ should be the one with the boneless-like body and flexibility that could make a real cat jealous. The same twist, the same backflip, even the same grin that donned her face that he knew she was having fun in what she was doing.

That night, he had to catch up on her to see what she we really doing, the cool wind biting onto his skin and whipping his hair as his breath came out in pants, more than once he had called out frantically to her when she made another move that was so nerve wracking.

But at the current moment, he couldn't do anything.

And from where he was standing in the gym, mouth agape with his other classmates that he was sure he looked as ridiculous as the first time Ladybug preformed in front of him, he knew he found her.

He wanted to sit down at what he saw right there and then.

 _It was her_ , he remembered laughing airily to himself as he leaned against the wall, running his hand over this face as he tried to get a grip of himself.

 _Marinette was Ladybug_.

"Somehow, that look always said that you're up to no good."

Startled, he swivelled his head to the side, where Ladybug was already waiting for him by the ventilating fan with her arms crossed, a small smile twitched on her face.

He bowed in mock courtesy. "I was starting to wonder, My Lady," He quipped, making his way towards her with a grin stretched upon his face. "I thought I had to come to you."

She gave a low chuckle, straightening herself up. "Sorry, I was caught up with something."

He hummed, tapping his chin. "Let me guess, it's the heap load of homework we got today."

She was taken aback at his words, as if she forgotten that he knew who she was underneath the mask. "Yeah," She replied hesitatingly, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of fear at what she thought. "It was."

There was silence between them that a squirm was tempted to pass through his body, but he didn't want this type of thing to happen, they knew each other, he wanted to get to know her better.

Even if his approach in the beginning was something that could be frown upon by the way he sneaked into her room before she found out who Chat Noir was.

Oh, and the make out sessions too.

"So."

His ears pricked when she softly cleared her throat, shifting one foot to another that it was slightly odd to see it leaking through the Ladybug as she averted her eyes from him, and he didn't know whether he was experiencing hallucination or not but there was a strip of pink gracing the bridge of her nose and cheeks, making her look absolutely adorable. "How did you, uh, know?"

Pushing down the timid nature of Adrien Agreste as he channelled the Chat Noir in him, he gave a smirk, strutting towards her with an act of bravado that deep down he was actually afraid of her running away from him, terrified even. "Another story for another time, My Lady," He told her quietly as he stopped in front if her, just enough that he could see the freckles that splashed across her face. "After what happened yesterday, I thought I'd cut you some slack."

There was something in her eye that he didn't managed to catch before she suddenly leaned forward to brush her lips against his jaw, where his heart rocketed at the sudden touch that he was starting to think he was dreaming again.

With his widen eyes and his breath shallowed slightly, she met his eyes, where they glinted with mischievousness that made his skin tingle with exhilaration. "You doubt me, kitty?," She whispered, grinning when she saw how it was effecting him.

He still couldn't answer her as she rested a hand on his chest, tiptoeing to her toes as she brought her lips to his ear, where his arms were tensed at his sides as they twitched to wrap themselves around her just so he could bring her closer to him.

"Race you."

As flash as lightning, her body heat was gone, leaving him yet again gaping after her as she bounded to another building, where she flashed him a smirk before she took out her yo-yo to swing her way through Paris.

Shaking himself out of shock, he quickly ran after her, the grin ever so present as he used his baton for more force to propel him forward.

He definitely made an excellent decision of snooping around then.

He couldn't wait what stored more for them.


End file.
